Michael Oren: The Iranians are scared of Donald Trump

The Jerusalem Post Podcast with Tamar Uriel-Beeri and Zvika Klein.

 Michael Oren talks Donald Trump and Iran on The Jerusalem Post Podcast. (photo credit: BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS, Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS, YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
Michael Oren talks Donald Trump and Iran on The Jerusalem Post Podcast.
(photo credit: BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS, Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS, YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

Iran is scared of Donald Trump, former MK and Israeli ambassador Michael Oren told Tovah Lazaroff on The Jerusalem Post Podcast.

Oren noted that he cannot predict how Trump would react to Iran - and neither can Iran.

"Why are the Iranians so afraid of Donald Trump? Because he's unpredictable, and because he did take out [IRGC leader Qasem] Soleimani, because be did withdraw from the nuclear deal," he explained. 

"Under the Democrats, the Iranians were pretty assured that they could get away with just about anything and never pay a price. I mean, the Iranians had their proxies in Syria and Iraq and in Yemen fire at American bases and service people some 180 times, and the United States never extracted any price from Iran, so Iran could pretty much bank on the fact that they could get away with literally murder and not pay a price. That was not the case with Donald Trump."

Iran shouldn't test Joe Biden

According to Oren, Iran theoretically has three months to break out a nuclear weapon until Trump comes into office. However, he warns that now that Biden has nothing to lose with a new administration coming into the White House, he has also become unpredictable for Tehran.

 US President Joe Biden. (credit:  REUTERS/Anna Rose Layden)
US President Joe Biden. (credit: REUTERS/Anna Rose Layden)

"President Biden, who will now be beholden to nobody, have no concerns, may actually give Iran that military response," Oren said. "President Biden has moved now six B-52 strategic bombers into the Middle East. Those bombers have one purpose and one purpose only. It's not defensive - they're offensive, and they can deliver from 50,000 feet in the air - that's higher than anything that Iran can reach - 30,000 pound bunker busting bombs. And if I were the Iranians, I wouldn't test Joe Biden.